


Scenic Route

by jackblue



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 70s AU, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mild Angst, Road Trip, mild alcohol use, mild drug use, this will be fun i swear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-07-29 19:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16270427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackblue/pseuds/jackblue
Summary: In 1973, seven teenagers with nothing better to do decide to take a road trip. Documented here are their adventures.





	1. Park

_Summer, 1973_

 

James Barnes, dressed in all black with his hair falling into his eyes and his foot tapping against the pavement, took one last puff of his cigarette before throwing it down and stomping it out. Steve would be there any minute now, and he hated the smell of cigarettes. Something to do with his father’s addiction to them before he died, or something like that. (No matter how much James pretended he didn’t know exactly why, he absorbed everything Steve Rogers ever told him like a brittle sponge.)

There was a randomly constructed wall right outside of the city, far away from any buildings, and it was kind of their spot. _Their_ being relative, as almost everyone their age in town hung there to smoke or make out or whatever they felt like doing. The wall was painted with silhouettes of children. _Like the chalk outlines around dead bodies_ , James always thought. Sam told him he shouldn’t think like that. Sam was always trying to lighten everyone’s mood, and frankly, most of the time it pissed James off. But he still cared for him, at least.

When Steve finally arrived, he looked a tad sweaty and his shirt was wrinkled. James frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of himself and closed it. _Better to ignore it_ , he thought. It was always better to ignore it.

“Sorry, Buck. Peggy wanted to go grab something to eat and I couldn’t say no in front of everyone,” Steve said, leaning against the wall next to James, looking down at his shoes. It was his second excuse this week. James thought he saw Steve wrinkle his nose up then, but he could never be sure.

“We’re not twelve anymore, Steve. You don’t gotta use that ridiculous nickname.”

(James secretly loved it. Only Steve called him “Bucky”, “Buck”, etc. He liked that it was something only the two of them shared.)

“Yeah, but I’m still going to.” Steve could remember the two of them as children, Steve’s mother calling for he and “Bucky” to come inside for dinner when it got too dark or too cold. That was when James’ mother still gave a shit enough about him to give him the (adorable) nickname. She had wanted to call him by his middle name, but no one in the family agreed. So James was known as Bucky Barnes until he was seventeen, when he decided enough was enough. James was a man’s name. James was a man now. Steve’s heart twinged at the thoughts running through his mind.

James rolled his eyes and laughed quietly. He did that a lot in reply to Steve’s conversations.

 

Steve didn’t mention the fact that James smelt like smoke, and James didn’t mention the fact that he knew Steve and _Margaret Carter_ did more that afternoon than get lunch. Things were better that way.

 

——

 

“Anthony! Wake up, boy! Do you _know_ what time it is?”

Tony awoke to see his father hovering over his bedside with his arms crossed and a newspaper in hand. He lamely looked out the window and back to his father. “Uh…Afternoon?”

“Three o’clock in the damn afternoon! You’ve got to start doing better, son, or I don’t know what we’ll do with you.” Howard left Tony’s room promptly after that statement, giving one last look to his only child. Tony could hear his mother downstairs telling Howard something about “the boy’s growing” and “not to be so harsh all the time”. He heard his father huff and Tony did too, partially because he knew his father was right and partially because he was still exhausted. He was always exhausted.

Even still, he threw back his sheets and padded over to his chest of drawers to find something to wear for the day. A plain white shirt and jeans would do, he supposed. Not like he had any real plans.

 

He walked down the stairs and sat low in his chair at the kitchen table. His mother smiled at him and he half-smiled back, almost immediately focusing on a spot on the floor and losing all focus on the conversation his mother was trying to make between Tony and his father. He stared at the spot for what seemed like hours. He thought he heard the phone ring. No - he _definitely_ heard the phone ring.

Before he could even get out of his chair, though, his father was already across the kitchen and holding the phone to his ear. He didn’t seem particularly happy with the person on the other line. After a few seconds, he sighed and held the phone out to Tony. “It’s for you, kid.” Tony stood and took the phone, walking around the border wall between the dining room and den and leaning against it.

“Hey, Pep,” he said softly.

_“Um, no. Try again.”_

“Bruce! What is it?” Tony hissed. He heard his best friend laugh over the line.

_“Was just wondering what you were up to today. Nat called earlier wanting to drag me to the park, was gonna see if maybe you and Th-“_

“The _park_? What are we, girl scouts?”

_“-Or wanted to go, too. Jesus, Tony, would it kill ya’ to let me get my sentences out?” Bruce sighed._

Tony laughed, a loud sound his parents rarely got the pleasure of hearing from him. “What time?”

 

Tony arrived to the park near four-thirty, the sun still blisteringly hot for the time. He spotted his friends sitting under a tree on a raggedy hand-made quilt, a creation of Natasha’s for sure. Nat herself sat in the middle of the thing, taking up the most room despite being the smallest of the three already there. Bruce sat on the edge, glasses on and reading a book, taking notes on a small pad. Thor was laid beside him, one arm lazily covering his eyes. His hair was getting awfully long, Tony thought, as he finally reached their spot. The place was packed.

As he went to sit down, he was greeted with a quiet chorus of hey’s. Thor peeked one eye out from behind his arm to look at Tony and remark, “I was wondering when you’d arrive.” Tony only rolled his eyes and smiled as a response.

 

As the hours passed and the sun began to set, the park population slowly dwindled until the four of them were the only ones around. Natasha had accumulated several dandelions she picked from the grass surrounding their blanket. The flower-weeds had since wound up in everyone’s hair. Tony couldn’t help but notice how the yellow so contrasted Bruce’s black hair, even in the fading light. He shook his head and looked up into the branches of the tree, pointedly focusing his thoughts elsewhere.

Nat smiled and stretched, standing. “I think it’s time to go, guys,” she said. The boys all agreed and stood, collecting their things.

Tony bid them farewell as he reached his car, hopping in and wasting no unnecessary time to drive away. He decided he’d take the long way home, needing some alone time after the four hours spent with his friends. He drove past the wall, glancing quickly at it, able to make out two shapes huddled together in the almost-dark. That’s what the place was for, he guessed.

 

It was completely dark and after nine when he arrived home. He snuck in through the back.


	2. Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for alcohol use and vomit.

Sunday found Thor sitting around in his dining room, watching Bruce study vigorously for… Something. They had been planning to hang out one-on-one for two weeks, and yet here they were, Bruce reading and Thor tapping his fingers against his cheek. Thor’s parents were out of town and his younger brother, Loki, was likely still sleeping upstairs. He’d considered getting up to watch some television, but he didn’t want to abandon Bruce at the dinner table. 

“Whatcha starin’ at?” Bruce asked, smiling. Thor snapped out of his thoughts, unaware he was staring directly at Bruce’s face. 

Thor felt his face flush red. “Let’s go somewhere,” he said. Bruce sat his pencil down. “I’m getting so stir crazy and it’s _summer_ , Bruce!” Bruce looked at him a moment before closing his book, sighing, and stretching. He stood up from the table, and Thor followed. Thor scribbled a little note for Loki, and then they were out the door.

 

“So…Where to?” Bruce asked once they were settled in Thor’s car. It was nearing eight p.m., and the sun was just barely beginning to set over the horizon. The air was hot, but it had lost the suffocating humidity that it had held earlier that day. Thor adjusted his mirror and looked over at his friend, wide-eyed.

“Let’s just go around the block a couple of times and see where we end up.” He smiled over at Bruce as he started the car and pulled off into the street. The two drove down Thor’s street, down Bruce’s street, past the high school and the park and then Bruce’s college, and eventually they ended up outside the neighborhood gas station with the radio turned down low and the pair passing off the one bottle of Coke they were able to buy with only the change in the car.

 

Thor was in the middle of telling an anecdote about an encounter he had at his job when Bruce sat straight up and put on his glasses, shushing Thor and staring out the windshield. Thor mimicked him, and immediately saw what had alerted Bruce. Stumbling down the sidewalk under the streetlights and talking loudly to himself, was Tony Stark himself. 

“…Is he okay?” Thor asked. There was a beat of silence before Bruce looked back over and shook his head _no._ The two continued to look at each other for a second more before simultaneously throwing their doors open and walking towards their friend.

When Tony saw them, his face split into an over-eager grin that was uncharacteristic for him, even when he was intoxicated. “Hey guys!” He said, voice getting louder as the slurred words came from his mouth. “Where’d you come from?” 

Bruce ran to steady Tony as he nearly tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. Tony kept the grin on his face until he was lead to and made to sit down on the curb. Then, his face fell, and he emptiedthe contents of his stomach — which appeared to be nothing but liquids — into the street. Thor made a face and patted Tony’s back, while Bruce sat and stared at the road. After a moment, Tony began to speak.

 

“My dad’s been on my case about going to college again,” he said, voice quieter now but still slurred. “I’m not even a senior yet, man, I just wanna live my life until I have to become just like him. I never want to be like him.

Sometimes I wish I had a brother or something, you know? That way I wouldn’t be the only one on the receiving end of his mouth.” Tony sat there with his head in his hands, and said nothing else.

Thor and Bruce knew how their friend felt. Hell, they were sure every young man knew how they felt. The pair stayed silent until Thor piped up to ask, “But where did you get _this_ drunk?”

Tony snapped his head up and smiled lazily at Thor. “Din’t you hear? There’s a party over at Barton’s tonight. You guys coulda came. It was awesome. Still going on, I’m pretty sure.”

“Well,” Bruce said, “We should probably get you home.”

“No!” Tony exclaimed. “I mean, would it be okay if I crashed at one of yours’? Just for tonight?” Thor and Bruce glanced at each other over Tony’s head. Then, Bruce nodded and began to help Tony stand. 

 

“Yeah, yeah. You can sleep on my couch or somethin’. C’mon, buddy, you need some rest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was such a short chapter. It feels so boring to me but I’ll see what the audience has to say about that.  
> Uh age stuff. Thor and Bucky are 19, Bruce is 20, and the rest of the gang is 17-18. Just to clarify.  
> Follow me on Twitter.


End file.
